Chapel

Chapel dedicated to St. Eyen, situated on SW facing slope of Knockeyon the summit of which lies 245m to the NNE and overlooks Lough Derravaragh 65m to the SW. Described in 1682 by Sir Henry Piers of Tristernagh as following; 'This hill hath on that side which hangeth over the water, and about midway from it to the top, an ancient chapel dedicated to a saint, called Eyen or Keyon. This chapel is cut out of the natural rock, for all one side of it appears to be the natural stone instead of a wall. It is now, and long hath been, without a roof: it hath in it a curious purling brook of crystal water (WM012-206001-), which issuing out of the rock side of the chapel, traverseth it, and falling thro' the opposite side wall, hasteneth down to the waters below. To this chapel from the land side leads a pathway on the side of the hill; the nearer you approach to it, the narrower doth the way grow; at last, and at a good distance from it, the way appeareth hewn out of the rock side, rendered easy and safe by the trees, which, as aforesaid, rise from the water, and range over one another, and hem up the way so close, that there is no danger either to slip or fall. To this chapel, on first Sunday in harvest, the natives pay their devotions in pilgrimages, which for certain stages they undertake barefoot; but when they come to a certain noted place in the way, they hold on the remainder of their devotion on their bare knees, all along to the chapel, on stone and gravel, intermixed and overgrown with heath and grass. Their devotions performed, they return merry and shod, no longer concerned for those sins that were the cause of this so severe a penance; but as if, having now paid off the old score, they longed to go on in the new again, they return in all haste to a green spot of ground on the east side of the hill towards the land, and here men and women fall a dancing and carousing the rest of the day; for ale sellers in great numbers on these days have their booths here as in a fair, and to be sure the merry bag-pipers fail not to pay their attendance' (Vallancey 1786, 12-14). In the late 19th century Reverend Cogan (1867, 440) recorded that 'Midway up the hill there is the shell of an old chapel, cut out of the rock, which was dedicated to St. Eyen or Keyon, one of the saints of the early period of our church. A holy well (WM012-206001-) is here, one much frequented. The people made pilgrimages to this place on the first Sunday of August, and performed a variety of penitential exercises. Stations were held here, and the neighbouring priests attended to hear confessions, and to prepare the pilgrims for the sacrament of the Eucharist'. Annotated as 'Chapel' on the OS maps this structure is situated within a dense woodland. Only the footings of this building remain (pers. comm. Aidan Walsh). Depicted on the 1911 ed. OS 25-inch map as a small rectangular building aligned on a NW-SE axis standing at the intersection point of four woodland pathways. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 6 December 2016

The chapel at Streamstown, dedicated to St. Eyen, was likely built in the 17th century, with early references dating to 1682; its location on a prominent hill overlooking Lough Derravaragh suggests a strategic and possibly spiritual significance in the local landscape.